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Furthermore:

We ultimately need a single-payer system, but a real public option is the only way to start on the path to real reform.

During the last "square-table" forum with the President and Members of Congress, one congressman ( can't recall who, but it was a Republican ) talked about how important it is to "have everybody in the pool, especially the young who are less of a tax on the system" in order to guarantee solvency of ANY system - thus a need for a mandate. During the same session, it was either he or another Republican seemed to enjoy pointing out that Medicare will go bankrupt in the foreseeable future in if we don't do something. When I heard this I couldn't help but jump up and shout at the T.V. "EXACTLY !!! THIS IS WHY, IF WE ARE GOING TO MANDATE HEALTHCARE INSURANCE COVERAGE WE NEED TO HAVE AN OPTION FOR EVERYONE TOO BUY INTO MEDICARE. WE COULD MAKE MEDICARE POTENTIALLY SOLVENT FOREVER !! - oh boy, ... now you got me started !!!

We must fight for this like we have never fought for anything before. Let's fight this good fight and not give up

It's an old cliche'  - If you don't have your health, you have nothing. If the Nation-at-large is unhealthy, we have an un-healthy nation. (Now there's a pun in there somewhere!)

posted 3 years, 2 months ago
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If you haven't heard of it yet, you may try googling "Paleo Diet". A lot of diabetics have had good results by all but eliminating the carbs they eat. No carbs, no insulin. Best wishes.

AllanFolz — Wed March 10th 12:19p.m.
Thank you, Allan, for your best wishes and advice. I will definitely check into the "Paleo Diet" but being that I am a classic insulin resistant type (I firmly believe that I have been all my life), I don't know how well this will really work. It is all worth a try though, for sure. I have always been thin, hyper-active and more-less wore my pancreas out from years of dumping my natural insulin into a body that refused to absorb and utilize it correctly. Anyway enough about that.
As for rj oregon's comment asking "who got premium decreases", I think the Executive from Blue Cross refered to the "false" decrease by way of deductible choices that I experienced (and the hidden fine print of additonal prescription drug deduction) and the immediate subsequent rate increase MID-CONTRACT (6-months into a yearly contract). Wouldn't it be nice to be able to write a contract, have it signed by your customer, and change it at will with no conscience or consequence? I could never do this as a matter of conscience and as a sole-proprietor of my own small business, I could never get away with it anyway!

posted 3 years, 2 months ago
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I used be an individulal member of the Oregon Medical Insurance Pool administered by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Oregon. Three years ago, in an attempt to save money on my monthly premium I changed my plan from a $500.00 deductible to $1,500.00. This made sense to me as, although I am diabetic, I kept my blood sugar well regulated, and was generally quite healthy. Furthermore, I had  never exceeded the yearly $500.00 deductible in the 14 years I had been on the plan anyway.

According to the usual three-tiered table of premium values for the contract year of 2007, the $1,500.00 deductible plan would save me nearly $100.00 per month. As a sole-proprietor of my own business, this was quite significant. However, three months after the plan went into effect, I received a notice basically saying "apparently there has been some confussion as we have heard from many of those who opted for the $1,500.00 plan. What was not understood was that  this level of plan includes an additional $1,000.00 deductible for prescription drug benefits. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused." Inconvenience? What an understatement. Nowhere on this page did I see anything regarding this, not even in fine print.

If this was not bad enough, effectively nixing any hope of saving money that year, within three months of that I received another notice. "We regret to inform you, but due to increased healthcare costs we are forced to raise premiums half way through this contract year by (I think it was $50.00 to $60.00) per month".

Long story short, within six months my out-of-pocket costs not only exceeded that of the previous year (on the old $500.00 deductible plan), but I was now locked into a virtual $2,500.00 deductible plan ($1,500.00 + $1,000.00) !!! Within a couple of months I ended up having to choose between paying my insurance premium, or paying for my daily dose of insulin and other medications. I'm sure you can guess which one I chose. The only one that would at least keep me alive.

posted 3 years, 2 months ago
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